The House, Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Rep. Sandra Keans (D - Straf 23)Thank you, Mister Speaker. Mister Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and I agree that we need a thorough understanding of how public pools work. The statute is very foggy and I'm sure that the various organizations out there are making sure that these statutes can be clarified to exactly what the legislature requires of them. Right now it appears that the investigation is totally focused on the Local Government Center. In 2010, the Commerce Committee had a last minute amendment which was introduced to give the Secretary of State increased authority over risk pools. During his testimony, 99% was focused on the LGC and here is where my interest parts with him. There are other ones out there and even on my days in the Finance Committee when that bill came to the Finance Committee, I had characterized it as probably a witch-hunt. Probably not appropriate anymore for this floor, but it was a witch-hunt and still is. Because of these concerns, I filed a detailed complaint with the Secretary of State in June 2010 asking that he investigate the two other risk pools that provide coverage for local communities, that is Primex and SchoolCare. All three provide services to all of our local communities. There is a variety of services and some communities buy one type of insurance from them and others invest with the other pools. My understanding is that all of the risk pools follow the very same practices. I assume so, if those are the statutes. So if they are concerned about LGC's operations, it seems to me that the same concerns should apply to the other two. Sixteen months later the Secretary of State has taken no action on my complaint and I think we need to understand why. I think there is more to this story than what we read in the paper and clearly some people are determined to vilify or even destroy the Local Government Center. As a city councilor for twenty-three years, I understand very well how important the LGC is to many of our cities and towns and I believe we need to end the witch-hunt and get on with a fair review of the law and look at all risk pools. Thank you, Mister Speaker.

Rep. Patrick Abrami (R - Rock 12)Thank you, Mister Speaker. Mister Speaker, transparency is what drives our citizens trust in government and HB 655 is about transparency in government. It's about standing up for the people of the cities and towns who have lost their faith in our Local Government Center. This is an issue that needs our attention now, today. The many problems that have come to the forefront with regard to the Local Government Center affect many of our cities and towns and hundreds of their employees. In August, the Secretary of State, Bureau of Securities Regulation issued a report extremely criticizing the LGC which runs several insurance pools for our municipal employees. The report listed numerous violations of state law which included setting up illegal limited liability companies, illegal sheltering of them under umbrella non-profit groups, not returning surplus money to municipalities as required by law, illegally transferring insurance premium money from one fund to another and buying things with that money that it was not allowed to keep. While it may be the intention of some legislators to wait until next Session to review this, we feel it is important that we take this up today and that we vote on this today. Transparency in all aspects of government is essential and demands our attention now. Mister Speaker, I agree with the unanimous decision, a bi-partisan decision by the way, of the House Ways and Means Committee and I'll vote to pass HB 655 and agree that urgent action is necessary now. This bill will create a commission to look through the details and expose inefficiencies and ultimately restore the confidence of our cities and towns in their Local Government Center. The committee established by this legislation will examine all available reports, take testimony from all parties and make recommendations for legislation that will clarify the authority and responsibility of the Local Government Center. I hope you will all join me in supporting HB 655 and establishing this committee and insuring transparency in New Hampshire state government.

Rep. Neal Kurk (R - Hills 2)Thank you, Mister Speaker. I too, rise in support of this bill and indeed the Local Government Center, I understand, supports this bill. There are three things that the committee is asked to investigate. One, and this is on lines 11-15 of the bill, the New Hampshire Local Government Center and the report of the Secretary of State criticizing some of its actions. Two, the impact of actions by pooled risk management programs on state and local revenues and expenditures and three, legislative reforms with regard to public or government-sponsored insured risk pools. If we, as a legislature, are to benefit from this report, the committee has to focus on all of the risk pools and there are three of them, Local Government Center being one. And, indeed they all follow the same practices with keeping large reserves in order to make sure premiums are level. I'm on the Weare finance committee and the one thing that I certainly don't want to see and my selectmen don't want to see is insurance premiums spiking one year and dropping the next year because you know what that does to the tax rate. So I think this committee needs to recognize that all three of these organizations follow the same practices with keeping large surpluses and by the way, they all follow the same practices with using some of their risk pool money to start other risk pools because it benefits the cities and towns who are their customers. The reason for my getting up and speaking in favor of this is to urge the committee to do its job by not just focusing on the one entity, but on all three entities and their practices to give us, the legislature, good information for changing the statute. Thank you, Mister Speaker. Speaker: Will the member yield to a question? The member yields.

Rep. PattenThank you, Mister Speaker and thank you for taking my question. I do understand that there is an issue that we would like to be able to study and that there is a committee that is being created. If we pass this bill today, will the committee be able to start its work?

Rep. Neal Kurk (R - Hills 2)I thank you for your question. I doubt it because the bill requires the appointment of Senators and my guess is that until the Senate acts on this bill and appoints the Senators, the committee won't get started officially. This is not a House Committee. Speaker: Will the member yield to a further inquiry? The member yields.

Rep. PattenThank you, Mister Speaker. Thank you, again, for taking my question. If this is not a House Committee, is there a process so that the investigation could start? Right now, they won't be able to do anything until we get through the whole process of the Senate and also the Governor and that may not be in a timely manner that perhaps would be good for our towns. Thank you.

Rep. Neal Kurk (R - Hills 2)I appreciate, again, the question. There is an alternative that I can think of at the moment, and there may be others, and that is to ask the Speaker of the House to appoint a special committee of House members and charge them with this responsibility, but higher authority needs to be consulted. (Speaker O'Brien in the Chair) GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE ON SB 91 By the authority vested in me, pursuant to part II, Article 44 of the New Hampshire Constitution, on July 13, 2011, I vetoed SB 91, an act relative to residential fire sprinklers. SB 91 prohibits local governing bodies from requiring the installation of a fire suppression sprinkler system in proposed one or two-family residences as a condition of approval for a local permit. While it preserves exiting local ordinances requiring automatic sprinkler systems in the communities that have adopted such ordinances, it would eliminate enforcement of any existing ordinance that requires sprinklers in manufactured housing units that are situated in a manufactured housing park. The State Fire Marshal and numerous local fire departments across the State believe that local officials should continue to have the ability to require automatic sprinkler systems as an option when evaluating new residential construction. This bill will limit the choices available to communities in meeting local fire control requirements. Instead of providing a range of options, communities will now have to revert to requiring what may be more costly options: fire ponds, cisterns, wider road widths, increasing the size of building lots and increasing the size of distance between buildings. The decision of whether or not to require automatic sprinkler systems for new or renovated residential development has been, and should remain, a local one. The State should not preempt local decision-making. That is why I vetoed HB 109, a related bill that prohibits local planning boards from adopting regulations requiring sprinklers for one and two family homes in new subdivisions. SB 91, like HB 109, will remove local control over an important issue. The question being, notwithstanding the Governor's veto, shall SB 91, relative to automatic fire suppression sprinklers, become law? Reps. Hunt and Sterling spoke in favor. Pursuant to the New Hampshire Constitution, Part II, Article 44, a roll call, requiring a twothirds vote of the House for approval, was taken. YEAS 266 NAYS 61 YEAS 266 Accornero, Harry Fields, Dennis BELKNAP Greemore, Robert Kingsbury, Robert Luther, Robert Millham, Alida Pilliod, James Russell, David Flanders, Donald St. Cyr, Jeffrey Swinford, Elaine Tilton, Franklin Malone, Robert Worsman, Colette Simpson, Tyler Ahlgren, Christopher Tobin, William Knox, J. David McCarthy, Frank Schmidt, Stephen Tregenza, Norman CARROLL Emerson, Susan Butynski, William Babson, David Jr Chandler, Gene Lerandeau, Alfred Hawkes, Samuel McConkey, Mark Patten, Betsey Sterling, Franklin Jr Meader, David Umberger, Karen Tatro, Bruce Rappaport, Laurence CHESHIRE Tholl, John Jr Daugherty, Duffy Remick, William Cartwright, Anne Dwinell, Richard Brosseau, Charles Tremblay, Marc Hunt, John Johnson, Jane Moore, Robert Jr Smith, Edwin Almy, Susan COOS Hatch, William Merrick, Evalyn Richardson, Herbert Theberge, Robert Benn, Bernard GRAFTON Bradley, Lester Bulis, Lyle Cooney, Mary Gionet, Edmond Harding, Laurie Ingbretson, Paul Ladd, Rick Jr Mirski, Paul Pastor, Beatriz Reilly, Harold Sr Shackett, Jeffrey Simard, Paul Smith, Suzanne Sorg, Gregory Sova, Charles Baroody, Benjamin HILLSBOROUGH Belanger, James Brownrigg, Randall Jr Avard, Kevin Balboni, Michael Ball, J. Michael Champagne, Norma Barry, J. Gail Barry, Richard Beattie, Thomas DeJong, Cameron Belvin, William Boehm, Ralph Brown, Kevin Emerton, Larry Burt, John Campbell, David Cebrowski, John Gandia, Laura Coffey, James Cusson-Cail, Kathleen Day, Russell Gimas, John Doherty, Shaun Donovan, Daniel Drisko, Richard Hansen, Peter Erickson, Duane Fredette, Robert Gagne, Larry Hogan, Edith Gargasz, Carolyn Garrity, Patrick Gidge, Kenneth Jasper, Shawn Gonzalez, Carlos Graham, John Greazzo, Phil Long, Patrick Hardwick, Harry Hawkins, Kenneth Hikel, John McClarren, Donald Holden, Frank Hutchinson, Winfred Infantine, William Murphy, Keith Kurk, Neal Lambert, George Levasseur, Nickolas Palmer, Stephen Maltz, Jonathan Marcus, Bruce McCarthy, Michael Peterson, Lenette McGuinness, Sean Messier, Irene Moran, Edward Renzullo, Andrew Notter, Jeanine Ohm, Bill Palmer, Barry Seidel, Carl Parison, James Pellegrino, Tony Pepino, Leo Souza, Kathleen Pratt, Calvin Proulx, Mark Reed, Michael Thomas, Joseph Rosenwald, Cindy Rowe, Robert Scontsas, Lisa Villeneuve, Moe Silva, Peter Simmons, Tammy Soucy, Connie Sullivan, Daniel Summers, James Swank, Matthew Hill, Gregory Twombly, Timothy Ulery, Jordan Vaillancourt, Steve Kotowski, Frank Warden, Mark Whitehead, Randall Willette, Robert McDonnell, John Palfrey, David MERRIMACK Soltani, Tony Bouchard, Candace Coffey, Jennifer Cohn, Seth Azarian, Gary Hoell, J.R. Keane, Thomas Kidder, David Bettencourt, David Lauer-Rago, Kathleen Lindsley, Mark Lockwood, Priscilla Chirichiello, Brian McGuire, Carol McGuire, Dan Owen, Derek DeSimone, Debra Sanborn, Laurie Seaworth, G. Brian Smith, Molly Elliott, Robert Winter, Steven Griffin, Mary Janvrin, Kevin ROCKINGHAM Lovejoy, Patricia Moody, Marcia Abrami, Patrick Allen, Mary Antosz, Jason Pantelakos, Laura Baldasaro, Alfred Bates, David Belanger, Ronald Quandt, Matt Birdsell, Regina Case, Frank Charron, Gene Sanders, Elisabeth Comerford, Timothy Copeland, Timothy Davenport, Joshua Shuler, Wyman III Devine, James Dowling, Patricia Duarte, Joe Tasker, Kyle Fesh, Robert Garcia, Marilinda Garrity, James Welch, David Headd, James Hoelzel, Kathleen Itse, Daniel Kappler, Lawrence Katsakiores, Phyllis Kolodziej, Walter Major, Norman Manuse, Andrew Mauro, Donna O'Connor, John Okerman, Richard Packard, Sherman Perkins, Amy Perkins, Lawrence Quandt, Marshall Reagan, John Reichard, Kevin Ritter, Glenn Schlachman, Donna Schroadter, Adam Sedensky, John Smith, William Sullivan, James Sytek, John Tremblay, Stella Ward, Joanne Webb, James Weyler, Kenneth  STRAFFORD Andolina, Donald Berube, Roger Brown, Julie Cataldo, Sam DeLemus, Susan Ginsburg, Philip Grassie, Anne Groen, Warren Jones, Kyle Jones, Laura Kaen, Naida Larsen Schultz, Kirsten Munck, Philip O'Connor, William Parsons, Robbie Pitre, Joseph Roberts, Jenna Sprague, Dale Vita, Carol Vita, Lucien Wall, Janet Watters, David Weeden, Michael LaCasse, Paul Sr Bowers, Spec SULLIVAN Rodeschin, Beverly Laware, Thomas Cunningham, Steven Gagnon, Raymond Lovett, Charlene Osgood, Joe NAYS 61